User Guide | n-Track Studio Desktop (2024)

After you have successfully installed n-Track Studio, you can begin your first project with your new Digital Audio Multitrack Recorder. In this chapter, we will show you how to create a new song from scratch using just your computer, a microphone and n-Track Studio. Although the program is capable of recording two or more (depending on the audio hardware) tracks at the same time, for this tutorial we’ll assume that you’re going to record all the tracks by yourself, one at a time.

Finding initial inspiration

The process of making a song can be carried out in many different ways and following very different steps and criteria. You may already have a melody or a chord sequence in mind, or you may want to start from a beat or a simple instrumental loop and then build your song on top of that.

Although n-Track Studio will support whatever creative workflow you may prefer, it also provides some tools to quickly and effortlessly start laying down the foundations for a song. The Loop Browser, accessible by pressing the button on the main toolbar, let’s you add instrumental and drum MIDI and audio loops, directly into your project. In the Loop Browser, selecting MIDI —> Quick Groove lets you add a drum track, a bass track or a bass+drums track directly into your project, ready for you to jam on or start building your song.

When you select the Quick Groove pattern you want to add from the Loop Browser, n-Track will automatically create a Step Sequencer track with the selected pattern already loaded and ready to play. You can choose from n-Track pattern presets or make your own. You can then edit the patterns, re-arrange them or create new ones.

Recording a Demo Song

Prepare your instruments, turn on the computer, launch the program, and connect the mic plug to the soundcard’s mic input connector.

Before you start recording, check if the program is receiving a signal from the microphone. Talk into the microphone and see if the program’s recording level VU meters move.

If they don’t, run the Windows volume control using n-Track Studio's Settings/Soundcard settings/Recording mixer controls menu command. You can also access this control through Windows: in Windows XP and earlier versions, select Start Menu/Programs/Accessories/Entertainment/Volume control. For Windows Vista, 7 and later, select Start Menu/Control Panel/Hardware and Sound/Manage Audio Devices. On a Mac, click the Apple menu, then select System Preferences/Sound.

Open the recording view (Options/Properties/Recording in Windows; on a Mac, System Preferences/Sound/Input), then check that the mic in is the only input source selected, and that the level is sufficiently high.

While adjusting the mic input level, check the actual recording level using the n-Track recording VU meter. Sing or play the instrument the mic is going to record at the highest volume you think you will reach during the actual recording, and set the level so that, at the maximum volume, the VU meter will be in the higher red range.

Note:

If you exceed the maximum allowed recording level, the recording VU meter will show a CLIP sign, which means the recording level in that precise instant has been too high and the recorded sound will be distorted.

Since we’ve decided that we’re going to record one track at a time, and you’re recording directly from the mic, you’ll want to record mono tracks. To set the recording format to mono, click on the “Settings” button on the recording VU meter and select "Mono" (be sure that the vu-meter size enable you to see this icon, in case it don't, enlarge the vu-meter)

Since you’re recording your first track, there’s no particular need to use headphones, but you will need to use them for the following tracks to avoid feedback caused by the microphone capturing the signal coming out of the speakers.

Now that everything is set up, prepare yourself for recording and press the "Record" button on the lower n-Track toolbar. You’ll see the time indicator showing the recording time coloured in red. Complete the recording and click on the "Stop" button.

Let’s say that you were a little nervous about your first n-Track recording and the track didn’t come out right. No problem: just double-click the recorded waveform, then click the "Remove" icon in the popup window that opens. The program will ask you what you want to do with the recorded file. The safest option to select is "Recycle Bin." This sends the file to the system recycle bin, so that you’ll be able to retrieve it later if you realize that you erroneously removed a good file.

Let’s say that you record the track again, and this time everything goes well. You listen to it by clicking on the playback button on the toolbar, and it sounds fine.

It is now a good time to save your work. By default, n-Track names the audio files that you record like this: “name_of_the_song_X.wav” (where X is a number). Since the default name of a project is “New song,” the WAV file you’ve just recorded will be named “New_song_1.wav”.

It's always a good thing to use a file name that is logically related to what the file is actually about, so we’ll now rename this file. Supposing that it is an acoustic guitar track, rename the file to "DemoSong_Ac_Guitar1.wav" using the Track/Rename-Copy wave file command. Type the new name into the "To" text box and click "OK." Notice that the name of the track, as shown in the upper part of the track’s mixer section, will not change: since a track can contain more than one file, the name of a track is not related to the name of its audio files. You can change a track name by right-click the track’s waveform in the timeline window, selecting "Properties" from the pop-up menu and typing a new name into the "Track name" box.

Save the whole project, using the Save as command from the File menu, to the file “DemoSong.sng”. The .sng project file will contain all the song settings, links to audio files, effects, etc., but not the actual audio data, which remains stored in the audio files that the .sng file points to, like the “DemoSong_Ac_Guitar1.wav” we previously recorded.

Let’s now record the second track. If you changed instruments, you’ll need to check the recording level again to be sure it’s correct. If you’re using headphones, you may also need to check if the audio being played back (i.e. the first track) is at a volume similar to that of the signal that you’re recording. This will allow you to play along with the recorded music while also hearing what you play through the headphones.

Re-Recording Portions of a Track

Now that we’ve added a bit of punch to the vocal track, we’re ready for the third track: a couple of electric guitar solos, one in the middle of the song and one near the end. Record the third track as you did the other two. Let’s say that the first guitar solo goes well, but the second doesn’t come out right. Since the first solo was OK, you don’t want to re-record the whole track, but you want to overdub the second solo. Click on the button on the left side of track 3, then select MME: Microsoft Sound Mapper – Right Channel (or the name of your input soundcard channel if your configuration is not the default).

Alternatively, you can click on the button on the recording VU meter, then select "Record to track 3" from the drop-down list.

Now click on the timeline at a point some seconds before the start of the 2nd solo, then click on the "Record" button. Once finished, you’ll notice that a new part appears on the timeline, just after the first solo audio file. In fact, when the program overdubs a track, it doesn’t modify the actual audio files: it just records another WAV file with the new material and adds it in the correct place in the timeline. This is called non-destructive overdubbing, as the original audio file is left unmodified.

The new recording is placed into a new Take; both the old and the new takes will appear stacked on top of each other. You can switch between the old and the new takes simply by clicking on the waveform of the take you want the track to play. Read more in the Take Lanes section.

Since we were doing this just to check what had happened, we want to restore the parts exactly as they were after the overdub. To revert the song to the previous state, click two times on the undo button on the toolbar.

n-Track can also automate the process of recording takes of a portion of the song using punch-in multiple takes recording.

Adding Effects and "Tweaking" a Track

Now that the solos are OK, you may want to add a little EQ to the guitar track, and maybe also a bit of delay. Since other tracks may need to use this delay as well, put it on the first aux channel. Be sure that the aux channels are showed (click on the "select tracks to view" icon then "Show Aux channels")

Click the button in the guitar track's mixer section. When you hover the mouse over this button, “Add new send” appears. n-Track will add a new aux channel to the mixer and a send section at the bottom of the guitar track's mixer strip.

Right-click on the mixer window, then enable both the Show Master Channels and Show Aux Channels items. Right-click the mixer again, then enable the Horizontal Masters & Auxs item in the Layout submenu.

Move the mouse cursor over the black box underneath the Aux 1 mixer strip, then click the "+" sign. Double-click "n-Track" in the pop-up menu, then select n-Track Echo from the list of available effects.

The plug-in will now be applied on the first aux channel. To hear it applied to the 3rd track, you’ll need to send this track to the aux channel. Adjust the track send volume slider to vary the amount of signal sent from the track to the aux channel.

During playback, you’ll notice that the aux channel’s VU meter will start to move, but you still won’t be able to hear the effect of the delay. To make the aux channel's signal appear on the output, you’ll need to move the aux channel’s return slider, which is located directly underneath the master channel’s effect list. Once you’ve set it to an adequate level, you should be able to hear the delayed signal.

The Send mechanism is very flexible: y track or group channel can be sent to any other channel, allowing for complex and creative signal routing. To change the output of a channel’s send, click on the label at the bottom of the channel’s send section (the one that by default shows Aux 1 after the send is created).

Adding Compression

Let's assume that all went well and the tracks have been correctly recorded. Now you notice that the vocal track level is a bit too low in some places and too loud in others. More often than not, vocal tracks need a bit of compression. Use the n-Track Compressor plug-in that comes bundled with n-Track Studio to flatten out the vocal's dynamics, making the quiet parts louder and the loud sections quieter.

Software effects processing via plug-ins is one of the most powerful features of software-based multitrack recording in ge eral and of n-Track in particular. Effects plug-ins can be added from the effects browser (choose "compressor").

Effects processing is always performed in real-time, so you can tweak the plug-in settings while listening to the result of the processing. Click on the drop-down preset list and choose a preset that is suited to the track (for example, “Soft knee compression”).

For detailed info on how to use the compressor, right-click on the plug-in’s logo and select Help from the popup menu.